At its meeting Tuesday evening, the commission OK'd plans to tie Muir Woods Drive in Hampton Cove's Grande Highlands section to the Nature's Trail neighborhood under construction next door.

Interim Huntsville Fire Chief Howard "Mac" McFarlen said new street will allow firefighters to reach Nature's Trail from Hampton Cove if the main entrance on Caldwell Lane is blocked. Caldwell Lane often floods during heavy rains.

"It comes down to us being able to have access in an emergency," said McFarlen.

Muir Woods Drive residents argued the tie-in will turn their quiet street into a magnet for Hampton Cove residents seeking a shortcut to Caldwell Lane -- and for people living along Caldwell Lane seeking a quicker route to schools and shopping on the Eastern Bypass.

Michael Anderson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UAH hired by the neighborhood, estimates Hampton Cove drivers would make nearly 1,900 trips up and down the extended Muir Woods Drive every day. Folks along Caldwell Lane would account for another 1,354 trips, he said.

That's 3,225 vehicles a day - and more than 250 during morning and afternoon rush hour - using a street designed for "low-level traffic," Anderson told Planning Commission members.

"It's not laid out to support the needs of 3,200 vehicles a day that are just passing by," he said.

Anderson's suggestion: allow the connection, but open it only to pedestrians, bicycles and emergency vehicles. That would provide the connectivity between subdivisions sought by city officials without compromising safety on Muir Woods Drive, he said.

Planning Commission member Kimberly Battle questioned Anderson's traffic count estimates for Muir Woods Drive. Most Hampton Cove residents have easy access to the Eastern Bypass, she said, and wouldn't need to take a circuitous route through the Nature's Trail subdivision and Caldwell Lane to get to U.S. 431.

"It seems like we're trying to make (Muir Woods) a private street when it's really a city street," said Battle.

Several homeowners on and around Featherstone Lane - which is currently the only connection from Hampton Cove to Caldwell Lane - said they support the Muir Woods Drive tie-in. Waymon Burke said there's an "element of arrogance" in Muir Woods residents asking the city to keep their street off-limits to through traffic.

Future residents of the Nature's Trail neighborhood "could be in peril if there's not a second exit for them," said Burke.

During a meeting last month, several Muir Woods Drive residents said they bought their homes with the understanding that the street would end in a cul-de-sac.

Marie Bostick, the city's manager of planning and zoning administration, said the original 1991 layout of Hampton Cove was changed in 1998 to show Muir Woods eventually connecting with Caldwell Lane. The developer of Hampton Cove requested the change, she said.

The Planning Commission voted 9-2, with John Olshefski and Sharon Tyson opposed, to allow the connection.